Bottle construction



Oct. 26, 1965 R. w. DIKE BOTTLE CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 10, 1964 INVENTOIE. Rey W Duh/a ATTORNEYS Oct. 26, 1965 R. w. DlKE 4,0

BOTTLE CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 10, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENTOR.

Roy WDv'ha BY aw, @Mq jvfiwk M6 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,214,052 BOTTLE CONSTRUCTION Roy W. Dike, Northbrook, IlL, assignor to The Climalene Company, Canton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Aug. 10, 1964, Ser. No. 388,372 13 Claims. (Cl. 215-) The invention relates to bottles, jugs, containers, and the like which may be used for the bottling, storage, distribution and use of various products, for example, liquids generally. More particularly, the invention relates to a new bottle construction which may be used advantageously for the distribution of liquid cleaning products, such as bleaches, ammonia, and the like, with greater facility, efficiency, safeness, and usability than prior art containers heretofore used for such purposes.

Bottles of conventional shape usually round or oval but sometimes square or rectangular in cross section with a liquid containing body portion normally terminating in an upwardly opening, usually central, filling and pouring nozzle, spout or neck, and sometimes provided with a handle, in sizes, for example, for containing one quart, one-half gallon, and one gallon of liquid, and formed either of glass or of plastic material heretofore have been used almost exclusively for the distribution of liquid household cleaning products. A number of difficulties always have existed in connection with the use of such conventional bottles.

Substantially all such prior bottle constructions, and especially those with a central, upwardly opening, filling and pouring neck, ordinarily cannot be stacked in layers on the shelves or counters of retail stores for display and sale without using dividers.

Furthermore, such conventional round bottles, particularly in the larger sizes, do not utilize efficiently the volumetric selling or display space provided for the products displayed on shelves of retail stores. Such inefficient volumetric space utilization also applies to the shipping cartons for a plurality of conventional bottles as well as to freight cars or trucks in which the bottles or cartons are transported.

In addition, it is difiicult to pour rapidly and without extreme care from such conventional bottles without gurgling or splashing. Splashing is undesirable and there are regulatory requirements that the likelihood of splashing must be minimized where a container is used for acid or caustic liquids.

Conventional round bottles due to their shape when manufactured from flexible plastic material inherently involve inefiicient use of bottle wall plastic material in achieving required internal capacity, and in resisting bellows action from expansion and contraction of the contained liquid, particularly in larger sized bottles. This ineflicient use of bottle construction material is not desirable.

Furthermore, normally two hands are required to hold, manipulate and tilt a conventional round bottle, at least in the larger sizes such as a one gallon size, when pouring from such a bottle. That is to say, it normally is not possible for the average person to accomplish one hand pouring from a conventional round one gallon bottle or jug full of a household cleaning liquid,

Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a new compact bottle construction which eliminates the described difficulties heretofore encountered in the use of conventional round bottles for the distribution of household cleaning liquids.

Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new bottle construction incorporating a unique top and bottom structure for the bottle body whichmay be nested and and interlocked one bottle on top of an- 3,214,052 Patented Oct. 26, 1965 other such as to permit stable nested interlocked stacking of such bottles five to six high without using dividers.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new nesting, interlocking bottle structure which enables two or three times more of the product contained in such bottles to be stored or displayed than may be stored or displayed in conventional bottles in equivalent storage or display space, and 25% to 40% more product to be shipped than in conventional bottles in the same shipping space.

In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide a compact bottle structure which may be manufactured of plastic material and requires less plastic material, given equal wall thickness, because of its compact shape than is required for the manufacture of conven tional round bottles to hold an equivalent amount of liquid.

Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new compact bottle construction having a filling and pouring nozzle opening and a handle, so constructed and arranged, and so located and correlated, that maximum flow of liquid contained in the bottle may be achieved in pouring from the bottle without the familiar gurgle and splashing.

Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new bottle construction incorporating the indicated compactness and nesting features, and which, even in the larger sizes such as the one gallon size, is readily adapted for one hand pouring from the bottle nozzle into a receptacle located beneath the bottle nozzle.

In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new bottle structure incorporating the new and desired features indicated which may be manufactured of a flexible plastic material, and which provides a bellows action all-owing for expansion and contraction of the liquid product contained in the bottle without obvious visible distortion of the bottle walls.

Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new bottle structure incorporating the new compactness and nesting features which has inherent built-in strength, such that the bottles may be manufactured from flexible plastic material with lighter wall thickness without sacrificing strength, thereby providing minimum bottle weight and cost.

Furthermore. it is an object of the present invention to provide a new bottle structure incorporating the described advantageous features and which has a relatively large area at the top of the container body available for sales promotion, price marking, premium labelling, etc.

Finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new compact bottle construction which eliminates ditficulties and disadvantages heretofore existing in the art; which may be manufactured readily from plastic material by usual blow molding procedures; which achieves the stated objects in a simple, eflfective and inexpensive manner; and which solves problems and satisfies needs existing in the art.

These and other objects and advantages, apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description and claims, may be obtained, the stated results achieved, and the described difficulties overcome, by the devices, constructions, structures, arrangements, combinations, parts and elements which comprise the present invention, the nature of which is set forth in the following general statement, a preferred embodiment of which-illustrative of the best mode in which applicant has contemplated applying the principlesis set forth in the following description and shown in the drawings, and which are particularly and distinctly pointed out and set forth in the appended claims forming part hereof.

The nature of the improved compact bottle construction of the present invention may be stated in general terms as including bottle walls formed preferably of flexible plastic material, said walls consisting of side wall means, bottom wall means and top wall means integrally connected to form a closed bottle or container; the side wall means comprising a plurality of generally rectangularly arranged vertically extending side walls connected with rounded vertical corners betweern adjacent side walls and forming said bottle to be generally square in cross section; the bottom wall means comprising base wall, side and recess portions forming a concave bottom recess extending diagonally between opposite side Wall corners with said recess dividing the bottom wall means into two spaced leg cups each generally triangular in cross section; each leg cup having a base formed by one of said base wall portions and cup side walls connected with the cup base and formed by side and recess portions of said bottom wall means, said cup side and recess portions tapering upwardly outwardly from said cup base, and said cup side portions being connected with two adjacent bottle side walls; the upwardly outwardly tapering recess portions being connected by a recess crown portion, the recess portions being spaced from each other and being convex toward each other between the corners between which the recess diagonally extends to provide a restricted throat intermediate said corners, and the recess crown portion being convex downward between said corners; the top means comprising a convex dome-shaped top member connected with the side walls and a tubular handle member extending diagonally between opposite side wall corners and oriented 90 with respect to the diagonal bottom recess; the tubular handle member having a reduced central portion terminating in outwardly downwardly flared end portions connected with the dome member adjacent the bottle corners between which the handle member diagonally extends, and the reduced central tubular handle portion being spaced upwardly from the dome member to provide an elongated handle opening; one of the flared handle end portions being provided with a pouring opening; the external horizontal sectional configuration of the tubular handle reduced central and flared end portions being generally complementary to the external horizontal sectional configuration of the bottom wall recess whereby the recess of one bottle nests over and interlocks with the handle portion of a similar bottle next below when a plurality of bottles are stacked in a stack.

By way of example, an embodiment of the improved bottle construction is shown in the accompanying drawings forming part hereof in which:

FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 are perspective views looking from various angles showing the new bottle construction;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the bottle showing the handle in side elevation;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 with parts broken away, illustrating portions of the bottle in section;

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of the improved bottle looking toward the rear of the handle;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 with parts broken away, illustrating portions of the bottle in section;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the bottle;

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8 but with portions of the bottle illustrated in horizontal section;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view with parts broken away of an upper portion of the bottle and showing the bottle filled with liquid;

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 10 showing the bottle tilted for pouring from the pouring opening;

FIG. 12 is a view illustrating a plurality of bottles stacked in an interlocked nested stack; and

FIG. 13 is an enlarged sectional view looking in the direction of the arrows 13-13, FIG. 12.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the various figures of the drawings.

The improved bottle construction is illustrated generally at 1 and may be described generally as comprising substantially a cube modified in the manner to be described to achieve the new concepts of the invention. The bottle 1 may be made by usual blow molding procedures preferably of flexible plastic material so as to be light in weight, strong, not readily breakable as is glass, and with a minimum tendency to mar, scratch or dent another object upon accidental contact therewith.

Although the bottle shape and the inter-related shape and arrangement of its components are of fundamental importance, the size of the bottle may be varied to provide bottles having various volumetric capacities such as one quart, one-half gallon and one gallon sizes.

The bottle 1 is formed by a number of integrally connected walls comprising side wall means generally indicated at 2, bottom wall means generally indicated at 3 and top wall means generally indicated at 4. The wall means 2, 3, and 4 form a closed bottle or container having a filling and pouring neck 5 closed by a usual removable bottle cap 6.

The side wall means 2 includes a plurality of generally rectangularly arranged vertically extending side walls 7, 8, 9, and 10 which are connected by rounded vertical corners 11 and 11a between adjacent side walls. Thus, the bottle 1 is generally square in cross section as best illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9. Side walls 7 and 8 and the rounded corner 11 therebetween preferably are provided with a slight panel indentation 12 for receiving a label; and side walls 9 and 10 similarly may have a panel indentation 13 formed therein for receiving a suitable label.

The bottom wall means 3 preferably includes base wall portions 14 and 15, side portions 16, 17, 18, and 19, and recess portions 20 nd 21. The recess portions 20 and 21 form a concave bottom recess 22 extending diagonally between opposite side wall corners 11. The recess 22 divides the bottom wall means 3 into two spaced leg cups generally indicated at 24 and 25, the leg .cups being generally triangular in cross section as best seen in FIGS. 8, 9, and 13. The leg cup 24 has base wall portion 14 as its bottom wall and side portions 16 and 17 and recess portion 20 as its side Walls. Leg cup 25 similarly has base wall portion 15 as its bottom wall and portions 18, 19, and 21 as its side walls. As shown, the cup side and recess portions 16, 17, and 20 of leg cup 24 and 18, 19, and 21 of leg cup 25 taper upwardly outwardly from the base wall portions 14 and 15 respectively. The side portions 16 and 17 of leg cup 24 connect with the bottle side Walls 7 and 9, respectively, by slightly rounded corner 26; and similarly the side portions 18 and 19 of leg cup 25 conmeet with the bottle side walls 8 and 10, respectively, by a slightly rounded corner 27.

The upwardly outwardly tapering recess portions 20 and 21 are connected by a recess crown portion 28. As shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 9, the recess portions 20 and 21 are spaced from each other and are convex toward each other between the corners 11 between which the recess 22 diagonally extends. Similarly, the recess crown portion 28 is convex downward between the corners 11 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Thus, the recess 22 is provided with a restricted throat 29 intermediate the corners 11, serving several purposes to be described below.

The top means 4 preferably includes a generally rectangular, convex, dome-shaped top member 30 connected by rounded corners 31 with the bottle side walls 7, 8, 9, and 10 and corners 11 and 11a. The top means 4 also includes an integral tubular handle member generally indicated at 32 extending diagonally between opposite site wall corners 11a and oriented with respect to the diagonal bottom recess 22. The tubular handle member 32 has a reduced tubular central portion 33 terminating in outwardly downwardly flared end portions 34 and 35 connected with the dome member 30 adjacent the bottle corners 11a. The reduced central handle portion 33 is spaced upwardly from the dome member 30 as shown providing an elongated handle opening 36. As shown, the bottle filling and pouring neck 5 is connected with the flared handle end portion 35 and thus locates the pouring opening 37 formed by neck 5 below the top of the handle member 32.

As shown in FIGS. 6, 7, 8, and 9, the mid zone 38 of the reduced central handle portion 33 has a smaller crosssectional area than any section of the portion 33 at either side of zone 38 above or beyond the handle opening 35. The increasing sizes of portion 33 at either side of mid zone 38 blend smoothly into the flared handle portions 34 and 35.

Referring to FIGS. 8, 9, and 13, the external horizontal sectional configuration of handle member 32 with reduced size at mid zone 38 and flaring outwardly at either side thereof, is generally complementary to the external horizontal sectional configuration of the bottom wall recess 22, with the throat 29 of recess 22 conforming generally to the mid zone 38 of handle 32.

Referring to FIG. 12, a plurality of the improved bottles may be stacked on one another without using dividers, as many as five or six bottles high, a stack of four bottles being illustrated. The stacking is accomplished by nesting a diagonal bottom recess 22 of one bottle over the handle 32 of the bottle next below. The nesting is accomplished by rotating each bottle 90 in either direction as compared with the bottle next below in a stack.

When the bottles are stacked in nested relationship, the constricted throat 29 at the center of each bottom recess 22 of an upper bottle engages the reduced mid zone 38 of handle member 32 of a bottle next below to interlock therewith against lateral relative shifting of the bottles in the stack. The interlocking feature described is well illustrated in FIG. 13. The zone of interlock is not merely at mid zone 38 of the handle member and throat 29 of the recess, but extends along the entire length of at least the central portion 33 of handle member 32 as shown by the engagement of the walls of these portions illustrated in cross section in FIG. 13.

The nesting interlocking features of the new bottle construction allow more liquid product contained in the bottlestwo to three times more-to be displayed or stored in the same half or display counter space, volurnetrically, than may be stored and displayed in conventional bottles in the same space, even when the latter are stacked using dividers.

From the same standpoint, a larger number of bottles 1 may be packed in a packing case of a size equivalent to that used for packaging conventional bottles, or the size of the packing case may be reduced for containing the same number of bottles. This feature also results in more eflicient utilization of the space available in railroad cars or trucks for transportation of products contained in the improved bottles. Thus, the new bottle substantially increases the use of space available for storage or shipment of liquid products.

The compactness of the new bottle structure, described generally as being cubic in shape, results in requiring less plastic material for construction of the bottle to hold a given amount of contained product, say one gallon, than is required in the manufacture of conventional round bottles of one gallon capacity. This reduces bottle costs as well as bottle weight. The reduction in bottle weight reduces transportation costs attributable to the bottle weight.

Referring to FIGS. and 11, the average liquid level is indicated at 39 in the bottle 1 when filled with the volume of liquid intended to be contained in the bottle and leaving the desired amount of headspace say about 7%. The opening 37 in the neck 5 of the bottle is above the liquid level 39 but below the top passage 40 through the handle member 32. Very little tilting of the bottle 1 is required (FIG. 11) to pour liquid from the bottle. Further, the location and arrangement of the handle member 32 with respect to the nozzle 5 and pouring opening 37 therein allow a maximum flow of liquid from the bottle without gurgling or splashing, because air can enter the bottle at all times when pouring through the opening 37 above the liquid level and through handle passage 40 as well as below handle opening 36 to replace the volume of liquid poured from the bottle.

The surface 41 of flared portion 35 of handle member 32 from which pouring neck 5 projects preferably is located at an anle of 45 from horizontal so that the axis of neck 5 also extends at an angle of 45 the other way from horizontal. This angular positioning of pouring neck 5 and the pouring opening 37 formed thereby as well as the relative relationship between pouring neck 5 and handle 32 not only results in the smooth pouring without gurgling feature, but also allows a user to place a receptacle beneath pouring neck 5 and with one hand tilt the bottle, as shown in FIG. 11, to pour liquid from the bottle 1 into said receptacle even when the bottle 1 contains a full gallon.

The one hand pouring feature combined with smooth gurgleless and splashless pouring provides a rare combination of advantages for a bottle or container for household cleaning products such as ammonia, bleaches and the like.

The compact generally cubic shape of the bottle 1 and the construction and arrangement of its side, bottom and top wall means 2, 3, and 4 offers considerably more bellows action than with conventional round bottles. This allows for expansion and contraction of the liquid contained in the bottle during storage, shipment and counter display at a retail store without obvious visible distortion of the bottle when visible on the display shelves of a retail store. This feature results in the ability to reduce by say about 5% the volume of the bottle which in turn further reduces the amount and cost of the material required for manufacture of the bottle.

Furthermore, the structural bottle arrangement including the compact generally cubic shape, the diagonal bottom recess .22, the leg cups 24 and 25, and the diagonal handle 32, provides inherent structural strength and reinforcement for the bottle, which allows a further savings in material required for the manufacture of the bottle since it can be lighter without losing functional strength.

The particular compact bottle structure which characterizes the present invention and obtains the multitude of advantageous features described also has an additional advantage in that there are large areas on top of the bottle (FIG. 8 at either side of handle 32) that can serve a useful function for price marking, presentation of advertising messages, premium labeling, etc.

The compact bottle structure characterizing the invention has another important advantage in that it locates the center of gravity of the bottle when partially or completely filled with liquid relatively closer to the base of the bottle than in conventional molded plastic bottles. This increases stability and decreases the susceptibility of being easily upset. Prior molded plastic bottles not involving the cubic concept of the present invention have involved special procedures or precautions to insure that the bottle could be placed in a balanced upright position.

The wide bottom arrangement at one face of a cubic shape with spaced leg cups providing the base surfaces, along with the low center of gravity and the bellows action, prevent instability and likelihood of the bottle upsetting even though the surfaces of the base walls of the leg cups 24 and 25 may not be truly flat or may be uneven due to molding seams.

Conventional round type plastic bottles manufactured from linear polyethylene or other similar plastic material have flexible bottoms which may tend to bulge when used to contain pressure-generating products such as liquid hypochlorite bleach. This bottom bulge in conventional bottles also can be a cause of bottle instability. Heretofore, it has been proposed to add special projections to the bottom of bleach containing polyethylene bottles in order to eliminate bottle rocking or instability resulting from bottom bulge.

The compact plastic bottle construction of the present invention avoids any bottle instability due to any bottom bulging. Bottom bulging is inhibited by the diagonal bottom recess, the spaced leg cups and the inherent bellows action of the particular compact structure.

The diagonal arrangement of the bottom recess 22 and the top handle member 32 of the improved compact bottle has been indicated as lending inherent structural strength and reinforcement for the bottle. The diagonal arrangement and particularly the location of the bottom recess 22 on a diagonal oriented 90 with respect to the diagonal location of the handle 32 is critically important from another standpoint. It is very desirable, as indicated, that the bottle be manufactured from flexible plastic material such as linear polyethylene. When manufactured from such material by blow molding procedures, the parting plane between the upper and lower mold sections must pass through the center or axis of handle member 32, such as a plane perpendicular to the paper in FIG. 8 and passing through the diagonally opposite bottle corners 1111.. This location of the mold parting plane is necessary so that the diagonally located handle 32 illustrated can be formed in the mold and the mold then separated. At the same time, if the mold is to be separated, the bottom recess 22 must extend perpendicular to the mold parting plane, for otherwise the mold portions which form recess 22 would prevent withdrawal of the molded product from the mold.

While the new bottle structure may require slight changes in existing equipment used for handling, filling and packaging operations, these changes are relatively minor in nature and the stability of the bottle renders it readily handled and repositioned by the usual sliding movements normally encountered in processing and filling operations.

Accordingly, the improved bottle construction of the present invention provides a new compact nesting interlocking cubic bottle which eliminates a great many difliculties and avoids disadvantages heretofore encountered in the art, achieves the stated objects, accomplishes the many new functions and results described, combines the multitude of advantageous features, and solves problems which have existed in the art.

In the foregoing description, certain terms have 'been used for brevity, clearness and understanding, but no unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirements of the prior art, because such terms are used for descriptive purposes and are intended to be i broadly construed.

Moreover, the description and illustration of the invention is by way of example, and the scope of the invention is not limited to the exact structure shown, because the sizes and shapes of the bottle and its components may be varied to provide other structural embodiments, without departing from the fundamental principles of the invention.

Having now described the features, discoveries and principles of the invention, the construction, advantages and use of a preferred form thereof, and the advantageous, new and useful results obtained thereby; the new and useful discoveries, principles, devices, constructions, structures, arrangements, combinations, parts, elements, cooperative relationships, and mechanical equivalents obvious to those skilled in the art are set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Bottle construction including side, bottom and top wall means integrally connected to form a compact bottle; the side wall means including generally rectangular vertically extending side walls and connecting corners fonming a generally square cross-sectional shape; the bottom wall means being formed with a recess extending diagonally of the square between opposite side wall corners;

the top wall means being formed with upwardly projecting tubular handle means extending diagonally of the square between opposite side wall corners and oriented 90 with respect to the diagonal bottom recess; there being a pouring opening formed in and communicating with the tubular handle means adjacent one side wall corner; and the diagonally extending handle means and bottom recess having complementary shapes permitting nesting thereof for stacking a plurality of such bottles in a stack.

2. The bottle construction defined in claim 1 in which the wall means are formed of flexible plastic material with a generally cubic shape, in which the connecting vertically extending side wall corners are rounded, and in which the side wall means are connected by rounded corners with the top wall means and with the bottom wall means.

3. The bottle construction defined in claim 1 in which the diagonal bottom wall recess divides the bottom wall means into two spaced leg cups each generally triangular in cross section and each formed with a base wall and cup side and recess wall portions, tapering outwardly and upwardly from the base wall.

4. The bottle construction defined in claim 1 in which the bottom wall means includes spaced base wall portions and spaced recess portions tapering upwardly from the base wall portions toward each other to form the diagonal bottom wall recess, the spaced recess portions being connected above the base wall portions by a diagonally extending recess crown portion, and the spaced recess portions being convex toward each other between the corners between which the recess diagonally extends to provide a restricted throat intermediate said corners.

5. The bottle construction defined in claim 4 in which the recess crown portion is convex downward between the corners between which the recess diagonally extends.

6. The bottle construction defined in claim 1 in which the top wall means includes a top member connected with the side walls, in which the tubular handle means includes a reduced tubular portion terminating in outwardly and downwardly flared end portions connected with the top member adjacent the bottle corners between which the handle means diagonally extends, in which the reduced handle tubular portion is spaced upwardly of the top member to provide an elongated handle opening, and in which the pouring opening is formed in one of the flared handle end portions.

7. The bottle construction defined in claim 1 in which the top wall means includes a top member connected with the side walls, in which the tubular handle means includes a central tubular portion terminating in outwardly and downwardly flared tubular end portions connected with the top member adjacent the bottle corners between which the handle means diagonally extends, in which one of said flared handle end portions is formed with an angularly inclined surface, in which a tubular neck projects upwardly outwardly of said angularly inclined surface to form the bottle pouring opening, and in which the bottle pouring opening is located below the top of the central tubular handle portion with which it directly communicates.

8. The bottle construction defined in claim 7 in which the angularly inclined surface is inclined 45 with respect to the horizontal, and in which the tubular neck projects normal to said 45 inclined surface.

9. The bottle construction defined in claim 8 in which the top member comprises a convex dome-shaped member connected with the side walls by rounded corner means.

10. The bottle construction defined in claim 1 in which the diagonal bottom wall recess is formed intermediate the corners between which it diagonally extends with a restricted throat, in which the tubular handle means includes a central tubular portion having a reduced mid Zone, and in which the restricted throat of the recess of one bottle nested over another similar bottle of a plurality of such bottles in a stack interlocks against relative lateral movement between adjacent bottles in the stack with the reduced mid zone of the central tubular handle portion of the bottle next below in the stack.

11. Bottle construction including blow molded flexible plastic material side, bottom and top Wall means integrally connected to form a compact generally cubically shaped bottle; the side wall means including generally rectangular vertically extending side walls and connecting corners forming a generally square cross-sectional shape; the bottom wall means being formed with recess portions tapering upwardly toward each other and extending diagonally of the square between opposite side wall corners to form a diagonal bottom wall recess; the top wall means being formed with upwardly projecting tubular handle means extending diagonally of the square between opposite side wall corners and oriented 90 with respect to the diagonal bottom recess; there being a pouring opening formed in and communicating with the tubular handle means adjacent one side wall corner; and the diagonally extending handle means and bottom recess having complementary shapes permitting nesting thereof for stacking a plurality of such bottles in a stack.

12. The bottle construction defined in claim 11 in which the diagonal bottom wall recess is provided with a restricted throat intermediate the corners between which the recess extends, in Which the tubular handle means is formed with a reduced zone intermediate the corners between which the tubular handle means extends, and in which the restricted recess throat of one bottle interlocks against relative lateral movement with the reduced zone of the handle portion of a bottle next below in a nested stack of a plurality of such bottles.

13. Bottle construction including blow molded flexible plastic material side, bottom and top wall means integrally connected to form a compact generally cubically shaped bottle; the side wall means including generally rectangular vertically extending side walls and connecting rounded corners forming a generally square cross-sectional shape; the bottom wall means being formed with two spaced leg cups each generally triangular in cross section and each formed with a base wall and cup side and recess wall portions tapering upwardly and outwardly from the base wall; the cup recess wall portions tapering upwardly toward each other and extending diagonally of the square between opposite side wall corners to form a diagonal bottom wall recess, said spaced cup recess wall portions being connected above the cup base walls by a diagonally extending recess crown portion, the recess crown portion being convex downward between the corners between which the recess diagonally extends, and the recess being provided with a restricted throat intermediate the corners between which the recess extends; the top wall means including a convex dome-shaped top member connected with the side walls by rounded corner means, and tubular handle means extending diagonally of the square between opposite side wall corners and oriented 90 with respect to the diagonal bottom recess; the tubular handle means including a central tubular portion terminating in outwardly and downwardly flared tubular end portions connected with the dome-shaped member adjacent the bottle corners between which the handle means diagonally extends, the central tubular handle portion being formed with a reduced zone intermediate said corners spaced upwardly of the dome-shaped member to provide an elongated handle opening, one of said flared handle end portions being formed with an angularly incined surface, a tubular neck projecting upwardly outwardly of said angularly inclined surface to form a bottle pouring opening, the bottle pouring opening and neck being located below the top of the central tubular handle portion with which the neck directly communicates; and the diagonally extending handle means and bottom recess having complementary interlocking shapes permitting nesting thereof for stacking a plurality of such bottles in a stack with the restricted throat of one bottle interlocked against relative lateral movement with the reduced zone of the handle portion of a bottle next below in the stack.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 819,191 3/06 Weeks 2l51 2,3 87,270 10/45 Johnson 220-97 2,978,131 4/61 Garvey 21S-1 FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Primary Examiner. 

1. BOTTLE CONSTRUCTION INCLUDING SIDE, BOTTOM AND TOP WALL MEANS INTEGRALLY CONNECTED TO FORM A COMPACT BOTTLE; THE SIDE WALL MEANS INCLUDING GENERALLY RECTANGULAR VERTICALLY EXTENDING SIDE WALLS AND CONNECTING CORNERS FORMING A GENERALLY SQUARE CROSS-SECTIONAL SHAPE; THE BOTTOM WALL MEANS BEING FORMED WITH A RECESS EXTENDING DIAGONALLY OF THE SQUARE BETWEEN OPPOSITE SIDE WALL CORNERS; THE TOP WALL MEANS BEING FORMED WITH UPWARDLY PROJECTING TUBULAR HANDLE MEANS EXTENDING DIAGONALLY OF THE SQUARE BETWEEN OPPOSITE SIDE WALL CORNERS AND ORIENTED 90* WITH RESPECT TO THE DIAGONAL BOTTOM RECESS; THERE BEING A POURING OPENING FORMED IN AND COMMUNICATING WITH THE TUBULAR HANDLE MEANS ADJACENT ONE SIDE WALL CORNER; AND THE DIAGONALLY EXTENDING HANDLE MEANS AND BOTTOM RECESS HAVING COMPLEMENTARY SHAPES PERMITTING NESTING THEREOF FOR STACKING A PLURALITY OF SUCH BOTTLES IN A STACK. 